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Rain Partier

Thoughts and Easter eggs about the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D. Dossiers, a weekly look back at some of the Easter eggs from ABC's new series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you've read Arrow Annotations, our weekly look at CW's Arrow show, you'll have a basic idea of what this column is about. While this won't be a comprehensive collection of Easter eggs and references to the comics/movies (I'm going to skip some of the more obvious references), I will do my darndest to catch as many as I can.

Here we go!

[Note: I watched this episode at 5 AM this morning, so my observational skills might have been a bit impacted due to tiredness. I've done my best, but I didn't find too much to talk about this week.]

Sergel Square, Stockholm - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD continues to be set in real world locations. Sergel Square is a central public square of Stockholm. Swedes traditionally celebrate at the fountain of Sergel Square after national sports victories.

On a related note, a person on Reddit took a lot of time to explain how the show's depiction of the square was not at all like real life. Because television shows featuring alien technology should really get the details of Swedish train station entrances right.

No ESP - I thought it was interesting that the show went out of its way to eliminate telepathy and ESP from their world, considering the comic books have a Psi-Division consisting solely of telepaths and psychics.

Akela Amador - She's a character specifically created for the TV show. You might recognize her voice if you've played the Grand Theft Auto series, though. She played a DJ in both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

Coulson's Collection - Here's some screenshots of Coulson's collection of stuff. I didn't see anything of note, but maybe you could piece something together. (Thanks to Reddit user Bird_internet for these).

Zhores Alferov - Simmons mentions that Zloda, Belarus (totally made up town, by the way) is close to the birthplace of Zhores Alferov, the father of heterostructure physics and electronics. His work on the heterotransistor revolutionized mobile phones and satellite communication, and also led to the modernization of LED technology and CDs. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000.

Cybernetic eyes - There are plenty of Marvel characters with cybernetic eyes, including Cable, Revanche and Crossfire.

That weird lettering on the chalkboard - Frankly, this is the only real Easter Egg this episode. That's Skrull lettering, as developed by Chris Eliopoulos for Marvel's Secret Invasion event back in 2009. Here's a full alphabet for the interested. However, don't get too excited about translating the chalkboard. It's all letter sequences (cde, klmn) and gibberish.

Like I said, it's gibberish.

However, this does give us an opportunity to talk about the Skrulls, a longtime foe of the Avengers and general scourge upon the Marvel universe. First introduced in Fantastic Four #2, the Skrulls are a race of shapeshifters that view Earth as a sort of promised land, and have often tried to infiltrate the Earth for their own means. They've faced off against the Kree Empire (which are due to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy) and also have select warriors that can mimic the powers of Earth's superheroes.

The Chitauri (the aliens from The Avengers) were originally conceived in The Ultimates as a modernized version of the Skrulls, so its possible that Whedon is borrowing their langauge as well.

The Englishman - Dominic Burgess, who played the Englishman, previously played a cop in the Narrows in Batman Begins.

And that's all I found this week. On a side note, this was probably the best episode so far, don't you think?

Rain Partier

Thoughts and Easter eggs about the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D. Dossiers, a weekly look back at some of the Easter eggs from ABC's new series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. If you've read Arrow Annotations, our weekly look at CW's Arrow show, you'll have a basic idea of what this column is about. While this won't be a comprehensive collection of Easter eggs and references to the comics/movies (I'm going to skip some of the more obvious references), I will do my darndest to catch as many as I can.

Here we go!

[Note: I watched this episode at 5 AM this morning, so my observational skills might have been a bit impacted due to tiredness. I've done my best, but I didn't find too much to talk about this week.]

Sergel Square, Stockholm - Marvel's Agents of SHIELD continues to be set in real world locations. Sergel Square is a central public square of Stockholm. Swedes traditionally celebrate at the fountain of Sergel Square after national sports victories.

On a related note, a person on Reddit took a lot of time to explain how the show's depiction of the square was not at all like real life. Because television shows featuring alien technology should really get the details of Swedish train station entrances right.

No ESP - I thought it was interesting that the show went out of its way to eliminate telepathy and ESP from their world, considering the comic books have a Psi-Division consisting solely of telepaths and psychics.

Akela Amador - She's a character specifically created for the TV show. You might recognize her voice if you've played the Grand Theft Auto series, though. She played a DJ in both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories.

Coulson's Collection - Here's some screenshots of Coulson's collection of stuff. I didn't see anything of note, but maybe you could piece something together. (Thanks to Reddit user Bird_internet for these).

Zhores Alferov - Simmons mentions that Zloda, Belarus (totally made up town, by the way) is close to the birthplace of Zhores Alferov, the father of heterostructure physics and electronics. His work on the heterotransistor revolutionized mobile phones and satellite communication, and also led to the modernization of LED technology and CDs. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000.

Cybernetic eyes - There are plenty of Marvel characters with cybernetic eyes, including Cable, Revanche and Crossfire.

That weird lettering on the chalkboard - Frankly, this is the only real Easter Egg this episode. That's Skrull lettering, as developed by Chris Eliopoulos for Marvel's Secret Invasion event back in 2009. Here's a full alphabet for the interested. However, don't get too excited about translating the chalkboard. It's all letter sequences (cde, klmn) and gibberish.

Like I said, it's gibberish.

However, this does give us an opportunity to talk about the Skrulls, a longtime foe of the Avengers and general scourge upon the Marvel universe. First introduced in Fantastic Four #2, the Skrulls are a race of shapeshifters that view Earth as a sort of promised land, and have often tried to infiltrate the Earth for their own means. They've faced off against the Kree Empire (which are due to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy) and also have select warriors that can mimic the powers of Earth's superheroes.

The Chitauri (the aliens from The Avengers) were originally conceived in The Ultimates as a modernized version of the Skrulls, so its possible that Whedon is borrowing their langauge as well.

The Englishman - Dominic Burgess, who played the Englishman, previously played a cop in the Narrows in Batman Begins.

And that's all I found this week. On a side note, this was probably the best episode so far, don't you think?

FACEBOOKTron

I know this is evil of me, but I just hope that Phil goes behind that damn fine bar, opens the refrigerator door to grab a coke and Skye and the girl science bunny's corpse comes rolling out at some point (then he grabs a coke and walks away coolly because fridging only works when you give a damn about the characters in there). I swear every time those two opened their mouths I had to resist the urge to hurl something heavy through the tv.

FACEBOOKTron

I know this is evil of me, but I just hope that Phil goes behind that damn fine bar, opens the refrigerator door to grab a coke and Skye and the girl science bunny's corpse comes rolling out at some point (then he grabs a coke and walks away coolly because fridging only works when you give a damn about the characters in there). I swear every time those two opened their mouths I had to resist the urge to hurl something heavy through the tv.

The Old Doctor

by The Old Doctor » Fri Oct 18, 2013 4:24 pm

FBtron wrote:I know this is evil of me, but I just hope that Phil goes behind that damn fine bar, opens the refrigerator door to grab a coke and Skye and the girl science bunny's corpse comes rolling out at some point (then he grabs a coke and walks away coolly because fridging only works when you give a damn about the characters in there). I swear every time those two opened their mouths I had to resist the urge to hurl something heavy through the tv.

Yes that is evil.

But more evil would be giving girl science bunny to our poster Psivage.

The Old Doctor

FBtron wrote:I know this is evil of me, but I just hope that Phil goes behind that damn fine bar, opens the refrigerator door to grab a coke and Skye and the girl science bunny's corpse comes rolling out at some point (then he grabs a coke and walks away coolly because fridging only works when you give a damn about the characters in there). I swear every time those two opened their mouths I had to resist the urge to hurl something heavy through the tv.

Yes that is evil.

But more evil would be giving girl science bunny to our poster Psivage.

dINGO

avengingtitan wrote:I thought it was a fun story to be honest. It wasn't ground breaking but I love that they are starting to set up later villains. Sure there are things that are wrong with it but its damn fun.

Really? I find it's less fun and more a chore just to make it through the hour. They really, really need to step up their game.

dINGO

avengingtitan wrote:I thought it was a fun story to be honest. It wasn't ground breaking but I love that they are starting to set up later villains. Sure there are things that are wrong with it but its damn fun.

Really? I find it's less fun and more a chore just to make it through the hour. They really, really need to step up their game.

Rain Partier

alaska1125 wrote:Really? I find it's less fun and more a chore just to make it through the hour. They really, really need to step up their game.

I've been looking at it like it was the first season of smallville or buffy. They take a few episodes to really get to know the characters and the worldn, while at the same time having them fight crime. I mean we already have two supervillains out there. I have faith it'll get better.

Rain Partier

alaska1125 wrote:Really? I find it's less fun and more a chore just to make it through the hour. They really, really need to step up their game.

I've been looking at it like it was the first season of smallville or buffy. They take a few episodes to really get to know the characters and the worldn, while at the same time having them fight crime. I mean we already have two supervillains out there. I have faith it'll get better.

Rain Partier

alaska1125 wrote:Really? I find it's less fun and more a chore just to make it through the hour. They really, really need to step up their game.

I've been looking at it like it was the first season of smallville or buffy. They take a few episodes to really get to know the characters and the worldn, while at the same time having them fight crime. I mean we already have two supervillains out there. I have faith it'll get better.

Rain Partier

alaska1125 wrote:Really? I find it's less fun and more a chore just to make it through the hour. They really, really need to step up their game.

I've been looking at it like it was the first season of smallville or buffy. They take a few episodes to really get to know the characters and the worldn, while at the same time having them fight crime. I mean we already have two supervillains out there. I have faith it'll get better.

dINGO

squatters wrote:can any brake down why this show is so lame is it because the acting and story is so poor! never going to get a second season!

I suspect a second season is a given based on the Disney/Marvel/ABC symmetry. Look...this show should be a given for me. It's dispiriting that it seems mired in mediocrity. Fun? Outside of a SLJ cameo and Lola, not so far.I have hopes for this show, but they diminish by the week.

dINGO

squatters wrote:can any brake down why this show is so lame is it because the acting and story is so poor! never going to get a second season!

I suspect a second season is a given based on the Disney/Marvel/ABC symmetry. Look...this show should be a given for me. It's dispiriting that it seems mired in mediocrity. Fun? Outside of a SLJ cameo and Lola, not so far.I have hopes for this show, but they diminish by the week.

Outhouse Drafter

"Eye Spy" was a vast improvement over the previous episodes of this series, I just wish that they would spend a little more time working on the characters that are permanent additions to the cast. I shouldn't be more invested in the guest stars than I am in half of the main cast. Stop making Fitz and Simmons so quirky and give me a reason to care about them. Stop making Ward such a know it all and make him a little more human. Give us something that makes these characters feel real instead of caricatures of other characters.

Outhouse Drafter

"Eye Spy" was a vast improvement over the previous episodes of this series, I just wish that they would spend a little more time working on the characters that are permanent additions to the cast. I shouldn't be more invested in the guest stars than I am in half of the main cast. Stop making Fitz and Simmons so quirky and give me a reason to care about them. Stop making Ward such a know it all and make him a little more human. Give us something that makes these characters feel real instead of caricatures of other characters.